Brandon Dawson - Exited for $151M at 77X EBITDA | Stop Blaming Your Employees for Your Failures

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Brandon Dawson co-founded Cardone Ventures, a $100M+ business advisory firm that's helped over 100 companies scale past eight figures. He previously sold Audigy Group for $151 million—a 77X EBITDA multiple—after building it to $30M in annual revenue. Brandon's worked with everyone from $5M startups to $50M enterprises, and his clients typically double their revenue within 18 months. His core message: stop blaming your employees and start taking ownership. That's how you unlock real growth.

➡️ Show Links

https://www.instagram.com/brandonmdawson/

https://youtube.com/@bdawson/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/brandonmdawson/ 

➡️ Podcast Sponsors

Hubspot - https://hubspot.com/  

ShipStation - https://www.shipstation.com/ (Code: SuccessStory)

Inbound - https://www.inbound.com/register 

NetSuite — https://netsuite.com/scottclary/ 

Indeed - https://indeed.com/clary

➡️ Talking Points

00:00 – Intro

01:31 – From 2.4 GPA to $151M Exit

03:03 – Mindset Shifts for New Entrepreneurs

06:16 – Where to Focus When Starting Out

14:13 – Brandon’s #1 Scaling Tip

18:33 – Sponsor Break

20:29 – Scaling Strategies for Young Founders

23:55 – How to Make Yourself Easy to Help

29:31 – The People Who Make or Break You

31:05 – Sponsor Break

32:59 – Finding the Right People to Align With

38:48 – Three Levels of Scaling Expertise

Welcome to the Success Story Podcast, hosted by entrepreneur, business executive, author, educator & speaker, Scott D. Clary (@scottdclary). On this podcast, you'll find interviews, Q&A, keynote presentations & conversations on sales, marketing, business, startups and entrepreneurship. Scott will discuss some of the lessons he's learned over his own career, as well as have candid interviews with execs, celebrities, notable figures and politicians. All who have achieved success through both wins and losses, to learn more about their life, their ideas and insights. He sits down with leaders and mentors and unpacks their story to help pass those lessons onto others through both experiences and tactical strategy for business professionals, entrepreneurs and everyone in between. To get more of the Success Story podcast, go to www.successstorypodcast.com.